The Allure of a city like Milwaukee (Wisconsin Dells, Winter: apartment, how much)

[ngroh]

While I am not as much of a thrill-seeking individual as most, I will say it should be curious why I hear so many people around the area (as I've lived in Milwaukee my whole life) say there is nothing to do here. I actually think we might have the best relative location to a great variety of attractions and places of any city. We're 90 miles from Chicago, just two to three hours from popular tourist attractions in Door County and Wisconsin Dells, a few hours from great hunting and fishing territory in the Northwoods, we are the City of Festivals for a reason, and overall just about every recreational activity is available here except for tall mountains (even rock climbing is feasible with our steep hills and rock formations). It is amazing that people say there is nothing to do. Anyone else from the region or another region feel the same way, where they hear people complain all the time but it is unfounded?

[HyperionGap]

Except when the weather is complete ass and raining until May? Not much to do in my apartment.

[trailblazer33]

I visited Milwaukee for the first time for a weekend last month and had a blast. Not sure I could live there though. But we had a fun weekend.

[ngroh]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Except when the weather is complete ass and raining until May? Not much to do in my apartment.

Museums? The arts? Winter recreation during the wintry months, there is enough to do even when the weather fails to cooperate.

[HerbertStevens]

Is your username intended to read the way it does?

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by ngroh

Museums? The arts? Winter recreation during the wintry months, there is enough to do even when the weather fails to cooperate.

All the things you mentioned in your original post were outdoor things that I would much rather do from May - September and not the rest of the year.

If museums & the arts are the best things to do in the city during 8 months out of the year, I would rather live in New York or San Francisco where there is a much higher concentration of both of those and the weather is less severe.

I guess this is my biggest problem with your first statement:

Originally Posted by ngroh

I actually think we might have the best relative location to a great variety of attractions and places of any city.

Let's compare this to some random suburb in Los Angeles

30 minutes to cultural/ sports venues of downtown LA [comparable to Chicago except closer]
30 minutes to Pacific Ocean [better than Lake Michigan]
2 hours to 10,000 foot tall mountains with over 50 lifts (Big Bear/Snow Summit) [Better than anything in Wisconsin]
1 hour to Disneyland [better than WI dells]
30 minutes to Universal Studies [better than WI dells]
2 hours to closest Joshua Tree National Park [none in the state of WI]

+ no snow/ better weather
- terrible traffic

Clearly this isn't a complete breakdown of the two cities, but I think someone would be hard pressed to make an argument that Milwaukee is the "best relative location to a great variety of attractions and places of any city"

Originally Posted by trailblazer33

I visited Milwaukee for the first time for a weekend last month and had a blast. Not sure I could live there though. But we had a fun weekend.

The amount of bars and nightlife is great near downtown Milwaukee (North Ave, Brady, Old World 3rd, Water, & Cathedral Square) and if you just visited for a weekend I'm not surprised you had a great time.

I love Milwaukee in the summer, however, starting in about November the weather just sucks and by April when there's still snow on the ground I'm just sick of it.

[EscapefromCarthage]

I understand the complaints but I do hate it when people complain about how much they hate this city and can't wait to leave. Like Hyperion said this place can get rough during the winter for people that don't like to be inside. Personally I don't mind because I prefer to be inside anyway. But I've always been able to find something interesting to do in Milwaukee.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by ngroh

I actually think we might have the best relative location to a great variety of attractions and places of any city.

I'd probably limit that to metropolitan areas of similar sizes, because you can't really compete with the offerings of the top tier cities. However, not being a top tier city can be a huge advantage in a lot of ways, like cost of living, traffic, distance between attractions, and a lot of other things. It's also a disadvantage. You have to appreciate what it has, and accept what it doesn't. Still, anyone who is bored in Milwaukee, is not trying, and that goes for winter too. The only reason I still live in WI part of the year is because it's worth it. I don't like winter, but even in winter, it has things to offer. You just have to appreciate what's there, and be open to enjoying the things that can be enjoyed.

[northbound74]

In the words of the defunct Harvey Danger: if you're bored, then you're boring.
Milwaukee may not be the absolute best location, but certainly not bad.
I see no reason to compare it to drastically different places that are many times larger. To its peers, it holds it's own.

[ngroh]

Originally Posted by HerbertStevens

Is your username intended to read the way it does?

No it's just a shortened version of my full name and I would have to add a vowel for it to truly read what you think it does.